The Texas beauty reveals how she moved from Desperate Housewife to political power player in this week’s Parade cover story, opening up about her new man, whether she wants children, what makes her feel beautiful, and her passion for helping others.

In these online extras, Longoria talks about her faith, first jobs in Hollywood, and why she got involved in politics.

On her faith.“We were in Catholic Daughters of America. Our family gatherings revolved around the Catholic calendar. It provided this yearly structure that, as children, we needed. We always knew where we would be. We knew the saints’ days, that on Christmas Eve we’d go to midnight mass. I really looked at [the church] as an institution that provided guidance as to how we were raised. . . . To me, the Catholic church was inclusive. It included the blind, the poor, the minorities, the disabled.”

On what an aunt taught her. “I remember we used get up early on Saturdays and go serve soup to the homeless. As a kid, I’d say, ‘I don’t want to wake up on Saturday! I hate doing that.’ My aunt said to me, ‘Don’t ever use that word! You don’t hate it. You may not like it, but you should not hate anything.’

“When I asked, ‘Why do we have to do this?’ she said, ‘Because that’s what good Christians do.’ That was the lesson she taught me. I remember it. It was ingrained in me.”

On her first jobs in Hollywood. “When I moved here, I went to an agency to get a temp job, and they hired me. They said, ‘You’d be great at this.’ I said, ‘What’s the job?’

“They said, ‘You match up people and jobs, like matchmaking!’ A headhunter. I remember my boss walked in and he said, ‘Do you want commission or salary?’ And I said, ‘What’s that?’ I didn’t even know the difference. He goes, ‘Well, commission means you can make as much as you want. But salary means you only make this much.’

“’Oh, I want commission,’ I said, not knowing you don’t get paid until the money comes in. But I was so successful that he came back [later] and said he needed to restructure my commission because I was making so much money. I was making $100,000 a year when I was 22. Seventeen years ago—how many people made a hundred grand a year then? I paid off all my student debt, my credit card debt. I took proper acting classes. I had an apartment. I bought a car. I would do headhunting and then run to an audition.

“My first years on The Young and the Restless, [the pay] was like $900 an episode. I was making way more as a headhunter. So I did both. I was working out of my dressing room at The Young and the Restless, negotiating stock options and salaries [for clients]. When they’d go, ‘Set! We need you on set,’ I’d say, ‘Okay, I’ve got to call you back,’ and hang up. I’d run and do my scene, then come back and continue to work as a headhunter. I did it until I finally started making good money on The Young and the Restless.”

On celebrities and good works. “I organize many charity events, [and] you would be amazed at how many celebrities demand so much. Some want their entourage to come, and they want a plane. But I don’t even let a charity send me a car service. I don’t believe in that. I go, ‘This is for charity.’ I did an event in Mexico with Pitbull, and he paid his own way there. That is a gentleman and a true philanthropist.”

On politics. “I have a really great mentor, Marianne Williamson. She’s an amazing human being, a motivational speaker, and she’s running for Congress, actually [in California]. I remember when I was starting to get beat up a little bit campaigning for Obama, she said, ‘Always come back to: Why are you doing this? If you’re doing it because you want to be liked, then don’t do it.’

“And I thought, ‘Okay, yeah, I’m not doing this to be liked. I’m doing this because I want to help the country.’ I really believe in our political process. I believe our government is the best in the world.”